Heroes Inspired by Nature

Alumni in Action

In nature, all design is sustainable design. This applies to nature’s products and process, of course, but it also applies to nature’s leadership models and organizational structures. For this reason, biomimicry is woven throughout our MA in Sustainable Design (MASD) program as a framework, as a tool, as a set of case studies, and as a source of inspiration.

When it comes to organizations, nature teaches us that we need to work in dynamic interdependent systems that can adapt and evolve as circumstances change, both internally and externally.  We need to optimize resources, including talent. We need everyone to feel they are understood, valued, and contributing.

Gautam Muralidharan, MASD 2014, deeply understands these ideas and has leveraged his skills and experience in IT-based business solutions to create Hero, a “a gig marketplace inside your company.”  

According to the Hero website,

We want work to be a source of intense joy and euphoria. When we do what we are meant to do and lose ourselves in our work with other like-minded people, even if just for a few minutes, we become a shining representation of all that we are meant to be—a superhero with their potential liberated.

Imagine everyone showing up to work eager to see what problems they can solve today and dreaming up how they can change the way their company gets work done. And in the process, discovering the hero in themselves. We built Hero for everyone in the world fighting the good fight to break the shackles of bureaucracy and organizational constructs that are redundant to the future of work.

If you’re working in sustainability, biomimicry, or sustainable design you probably feel a bit like a hero already — and you should!  If you want to learn more about Gautam and the Hero platform, you can learn more here.  If you want to learn how you can leverage your skills and passions with an MA in Sustainable Design, you can learn more here!

[Image courtesy of the Hero website]

Denise DeLuca / Former Director

Denise DeLuca is the Director of MCAD’s Sustainable Design program. She was co-founder of BCI: Biomimicry Creative for Innovation, a network of creative professional change agents driving ecological thinking for radical transformation. Denise is author of the book Re-Aligning with Nature: Ecological Thinking for Radical Transformation, which was illustrated by MASD alum Stephanie Koehler. She also teaches with the Amani Institute.

Denise’s previous roles include Education Director for the International Living Future Institute, Project Manager for Swedish Biomimetics 3000, and Outreach Director for The Biomimicry Institute. Denise is a licensed civil engineer (PE) and holds a master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering with a focus on modeling landscape-scale surface and groundwater interactions.  In addition, Denise is a Biomimicry Fellow and a member of the Advisory Council of The Biomimicry InstituteBoard Member of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP), on the editorial board of the Journal of Bionic Engineering, and an Expert with Katerva. Denise is based in Oregon.

contact:  [email protected]